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Thursday, March 8, 2012

I really really really love bagels. And while I've made them once, it was kind of a cheater recipe, and I've been dying to try them for real. A few weeks ago I got a major craving for everything bagels, and thought maybe I'd try them over the weekend. Well, we ended up having a lot to do and I didn't really have time for it, but the craving never went away - and why I didn't just go to the bagel place for one, I don't know. I like to make things complicated. So anyway, I thought of a way that I could satisfy my craving and save on time - make sandwich bread flavored with the everything spices!

I took my favorite basic sandwich bread dough and mixed some of the spice blend right into the dough. I then sprinkled more of the spice blend over the top. The result? Everything perfection! This bread really does have the flavor of an everything bagel. And it makes an incredible breakfast sandwich - melty cheese, a fried egg, and bacon. Amazing. Also great? A sandwich at lunch - I loved it with cucumbers, tomato, avocado, and lettuce. And it makes a pretty great BLT as well. And a great turkey sandwich. And great cheese toast. Really it's great with just about.... everything (see what I did there?).

Adjust one oven rack to the lowest position, and another to the
middle position. Heat the oven to 200 degrees. When it is preheated,
maintain the temperature for 10 minutes, then turn off the oven.

Bring the water to a boil in a small saucepan. Remove from heat and add the cold buttermilk and stir to combine.

Mix 3 1/2 cups of the flour and the salt in the bowl of a stand mixer
fitted with a dough hook. Add the buttermilk/water mixture, butter,
honey, and yeast to a liquid measuring cup. Turn the mixer on low, and
add the liquid in a slow stream, increasing the speed of the mixer as
you go to medium. Continue mixing until the dough is smooth and satiny,
stopping to scrape the dough from the hook as needed. Sprinkle in 1 tablespoon of the everything spice mix. Knead about 10
minutes, adding flour 1 Tablespoon at a time, as necessary to keep
the dough from sticking to the sides of the bowl.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead to form a smooth ball, about 15 seconds.

Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, rubbing the dough around the
bowl to coat with the oil. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and place
the bowl in the oven until the dough doubles in size, 50-60 minutes.

Turn out onto the floured surface and gently press the dough into a
rectangle that is 1 inch thick and 9 inches long. With the long side
facing you, roll the dough firmly into a cylinder, pressing with your
fingers as you roll to make sure the dough sticks to itself. Turn the
dough seam-side up and pinch it closed.

Place the dough seam-side down in a greased 9x5 inch loaf pan, and press
it gently to make sure it touches all four sides of the pan. Sprinkle with the everything spice mix (you don't have to use all of it - I think I used a few more teaspoons of it), lightly pressing with your hands to adhere the spices to the dough. Cover
with a clean kitchen towel and allow to rise in a warm spot until the
dough almost doubles in size, 20-30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place an empty baking pan on the
lowest rack of the oven. Bring 2 cups of water to a boil and pour into
the empty pan. Set the loaf onto the middle rack, and bake until an
instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of the loaf reads 195
degrees, about 40-50 minutes.

Remove the bread from the pan and cool to room temperature on a wire rack. Slice and serve.

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